"Even though I was able to elicit simple melodies from the right-handed violin: With this instrument even more than with the others, I had the feeling that I was basically playing the wrong way round. I couldn't really connect to the instrument."
How would you describe your handedness?
I am left-handed through and through, but as a child I was "re-educated" to write with my right hand.
Have you played your instruments left-handed from the beginning?
No. I've been playing the guitar since I was 14, and later also the cister, banjo, mandolin... All instruments right-handed. As a well-behaved re-educated person I didn't think anything bad about it, I just did it like the others in my musical environment.
What problems and difficulties do you have when playing right-handed? How do the two playing styles feel different?
When I was about 18 or 19, I increasingly felt that I was reaching limits caused by my right hand. I was tensing up, getting stuck in the rhythm or during faster runs. Without further ado, I changed the guitar, later the banjo, and started playing left-handed: It felt MUCH better, much more coherent!
Unfortunately that also meant starting again almost from the beginning. The fluency, the speed was gone, I could no longer play along with the others. Quite frustrated I therefore started to restring the instrument the "right" way round some time later, although I was pretty sure that this was not the right way and only the second-best solution.
I always had a violin with me when I was young, an old family heirloom. I also tried to play it a little. Right-handed. But even if I could elicit simple melodies from it: With this instrument, even more than with the others, I had the feeling that I was basically playing the wrong way. I couldn't really connect to the instrument.
It wasn't until 2009 that I got the violin out again and simply re-stringed it; i.e. just mounted the strings and another bridge mirrored. It worked! And it felt coherent from the very first moment! I began to connect with the instrument, and I finally had the relaxed and safe feeling that the bow hand (my left hand!) was makig the music and the fingering hand was actually just helping out. I have been playing the violin ever since and enjoy it every day.
How did you come by your lefty instruments?
I now have three different violins with three different stages of conversion towards left-handedness. I described the first one above.
The second one is a new instrument: As the sound of the first was not optimal, I asked my violin maker a few years later if she could make a proper left-handed violin or have one built for me. That actually worked out and I got a wonderful new instrument, a Guarneri/Heifetz replica, completely mirrored. Beautiful full sound, I play it mainly now.
The third is historical: Some time ago I received a very very old violin with restoration needs as a gift, a high-arched Stainer model with narrow waist and pegbox/neck graft. It had to be opened up for various repair work anyway and is now (apart from the pegs) also set up left-handed. Marvellous sound, somewhat more delicate than the new Guarneri, and can also be played very well left-handed.
What are your experiences regarding the left-handed playing in orchestras or ensembles?
My experiences have been consistently positive. But that's probably also because I'm a folkie. I have never encountered these strange orchestral discipline discussions in folk orchestras and ensembles. Among other things, I play Scandinavian folk and dance music in the group Akkerboom Spelmanslag.
What experiences have you had in lessons or when looking for a teacher?
I've never had classical lessons. Here I actually got turned down once when I asked for left-handed lessons. However, I attend several workshops, training courses and fiddle camps every year and really enjoy it. I prefer to play and learn by ear anyway.
Has your left-handed playing ever caused any funny or strange situations?
I'm often approached at concerts or sessions by people who notice that I play left-handed. But the questions are always positive and interested, sometimes even out of personal concern.
It occasionally gets curious when I also have my guitar or my banjo with me, because I still play them right-handed. So if I play left-handed violin on one piece and right-handed guitar on the next...
Do you see advantages in playing "the other way round"?
Yes, definitely. It just feels right to me.
Translated from German by Sabine Zeis
edited by Linksgespielt
Photo credits: private